


Dancing with Myself

by honestgrins



Series: To Rely on the Kindness of Strangers [111]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: All Human, F/M, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:15:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22216882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: Anonymous asked: I was completely alone and the elevator music was getting really good so I just started to dance around and the doors just opened and you're really hot and now I'm really embarrassed...
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson
Series: To Rely on the Kindness of Strangers [111]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/378628
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

Caroline usually hated visiting her roommate at work. The building was smack in the middle of tourist trap hell, and its top-dollar tenants never failed to make her feel like she didn’t belong there. But Kat hadn’t been home in three days because of some big case her firm was working on. Though her work closet was probably worth more than all of Caroline’s clothes put together, the laundry pile had most likely overtaken the fresh options. 

Bearing a garment bag and some comfort food, then, she swept into the mercifully empty lobby. The security guy barely spared her a glance when she mentioned Kat’s name, calling up to the firm. Luckily, the receptionist vouched for her without much fuss. As she walked back to the elevator bank, Caroline realized she’d never taken one by herself before. They were often packed to the brim, but apparently not so late at night. 

The doors slid shut, and she found she liked the brief moment alone. With such a long way up, her eyes drifted close at the peaceful sensation of an expensively smooth lift. She idly recognized the song playing, her hips gently rocking to the beat. By the time she reached her stop on the sixtieth floor, though, Caroline was bopping her head and singing along.

And then the door opened, where she found a _very_ attractive man laughing at her. “Excuse me,” she said, shuffling her various bags to scoot past him, blush hot on her face.

“Of course, love,” he smirked as he backed out of her way. Oh, an accent, too. Just perfect, embarrassing herself in front of a cute, British guy like some bad rom com. 

Intent on ignoring him, Caroline waved to the receptionist and bustled back to Kat’s office. After a bit of fussing like the mom friend she was, though, she returned to the elevators to find him still chatting with a lawyer she recognized from holiday party photos. Elijah, maybe? Keeping her eyes on the prize, she pressed the button maybe a bit harder than she needed to.

Still, it didn’t arrive quickly enough to make her escape; he easily peeled away from his conversation to join her, though he did get points for not intruding on her personal bubble.

“I haven’t seen you around the office before.”

She clearly spoke too soon on the intruding, and with the lamest pickup ever. “I don’t work there, just a good roommate.”

He nodded as the elevator started to move, closing them into a more intimate setting. “Ah, there have been some late nights recently,” he conceded.

Checking her watch with an exaggerated slowness, she met his eyes with more than a little suspicion. “And yet you’re leaving before ten.”

His lips curled into an amused grin, showing off little dimples that just weren’t fair. “I don’t work there either,” he confessed. “Just dropping off some paperwork my brother insisted I sign.”

“Oh.” Caroline bounced a bit on her toes, tempted again by the music playing. Absolutely refusing to replay that mortifying scene, however, she rolled her shoulders back to hold a rigid posture. Sixty floors took _forever_ , and she was definitely feeling the strain of avoiding conversation. “So…what _do_ you do?”

Those dimples appeared again. “I’m a chef. I’d ask you, but I have to assume you’re a dancer.”

Face completely afire, she couldn’t stop herself from glaring at him, which only made him smile more. “Doctor, actually. Blame _Grey’s Anatomy_ ,” she said, “dancing it out is second nature now.”

“No complaints here.” His eyes slyly slipped to hers before glancing down, seemingly pleased with himself. 

As flustered as she was, Caroline couldn’t quite regret the moment anymore. Not if it led to getting his name and maybe an invite to _his_ place of work before they reached the lobby. “We’ve got about thirty floors to go if you want to give it a shot.”

Wetting his lips, he canted his head in consideration. “I’m not one for dancing.”

“Not with that attitude.” Her hip jutted out in challenge, already bouncing to the beat. “Come on, I promise I won’t make fun of you, which is pretty generous considering you definitely laughed at me.”

“It was charming,” he defended. “I’m a good dancer, but in more formal settings.”

She shrugged, unconvinced. “I don’t know, you kind of seem like a party pooper to me.”

The glint in his eyes spelled trouble to Caroline - the fun kind.

* * *

Sure enough, the security guy watched the elevator feed as they wildly let loose, the lack of audio truly ruining the scene. He turned when the doors opened, only to find them laughing as they poured out of the car. “Have a good night,” he called, surprising them both into an embarrassed blush.

They both rushed into the night air, shoulder to shoulder as they left the building. He could just make out the guy passing her something, probably a business card. A meet cute, then.

He pulled out the bingo card he had made one boring night, marking off the appropriate square. Only one square left to win, but first kisses were oddly scarce for such a large building. His money was on the supermodel lawyer and her buttoned-up boss; their tension was fit to boil over with all the late nights they’d been working. He only hoped they kept it fairly tame for the cameras.


	2. Sink Another Drink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Requesting part 2 of the elevator prompt - more of Klaroline, I wanna see Katherine/Elijah and what else is on this bingo card?

“I can’t believe you brought a Mikaelson into our home.” Kat poured the shots with a heavy hand, lifting a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her roommate. “They’re nothing but trouble.”

Caroline just shrugged as she focused on cutting limes. “So are we, and we have fun.” When Kat scoffed, though, she looked up and stared her down with the point of her knife. “I like him. Don’t scare him off just because you’re too chicken to ask out his brother.”

Snorting, Kat threw back a shot and stole one of the lime wedges. “If your elevator dancing didn’t scare him off, I’ll be a walk in the park. His brother, on the other hand, is infuriating and not at all a worthy prospect.”

“Uh huh, sure.” Lifting the tray, Caroline made her way back to the living room where Klaus was perusing the photos and knickknacks. “Hey, I did not invite you over to embarrass myself further. Step away from the middle school braces.”

“What’s embarrassing?” he asked, not at all convincing in trying to hide his amusement. “If it helps, I had terrible issues skin growing up.”

She gave a prim smile. “My mother raised me to be too polite to call you a liar,” she said, setting down the tray and offering him a shot. “Kat?”

“Liar,” Kat answered immediately. She pinned him with her lawyer’s stare, like she could peel the skin from his bones with her eyes alone. “But I like that you’re trying to put her at ease.”

Klaus shrugged. “You’re right. Elijah had the acne, to our mother’s dismay.” When both women’s eyes widened, he smirked. “Small apartment. He does have his infuriating traits, I’ll admit, though not as many as our other siblings.”

Clinking her shot glass against his, Caroline grinned. “To getting to know each other.”

“To sharing dirt on Mr. Perfect,” Kat corrected. She turned on Klaus with renewed interest. “Tell me more about his teenage troubles, just between us girls.”

Caroline rolled her eyes. At least they were getting along?


End file.
